


She won’t take this one

by busybeegracie



Category: The White Queen (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-01 19:03:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/busybeegracie/pseuds/busybeegracie
Summary: Three years after losing her daughter at sea, Isabel is bringing a child into the world for the second time.





	She won’t take this one

**Author's Note:**

> I used to write TWQ fanfics but then got too annoyed by some of the historical inaccuracies (by which I’m talking George and Isabel and Richard and Anne’s relationships) to really enjoy the show/books!
> 
> But I love Gisabel so much and they don’t get enough love so I thought I’d write something. :)
> 
> Please forgive me if this isn’t great - I haven’t written with these characters for years!

George wiped his eyes in an attempt to prevent them from closing without his permission. The light of dawn had only just begun to seep in through the windows. He wasn’t sure if he had spent the night pacing outside Isabel’s chamber because he was desperate to know that his son was born safely, or because he had come to care deeply for his wife in their four years of marriage and was desperate to know she would make it through the birth. He didn’t like to admit it, but he knew it was most definitely both.

She was an attractive lady, and, despite his brother’s shenanigans, George most definitely had never felt the need to take a mistress. When they had lost their daughter at sea, both of them had almost become different people entirely; they could hardly look at one another, in the following months, without both parties feeling as if their hearts were breaking into little pieces all over again. Every piercing cry that had come from the next room had caused him to wince, putting him back in April 1470 on the boat off Calais. Yet, after returning to Edward’s favour, they had developed an understanding for one another, which neither of them had ever known with anyone else before. They were almost always in each other’s company. He could not, nor did he wish to, deny that he had feelings for her. Perhaps he even loved her, although those words did not sit so easily in his mind.

 _She won’t take this one,_ George reminded himself - not for the first time in the last few hours.

Isabel was aware that eleven hours of labour was not unusual, yet every second seemed to feel as if centuries were passing. She just wanted to know her son was alright. Or her daughter. George had not seemed to consider the possibility of her having a girl; Isabel almost thought of the child as a boy now too. But she knew there was a chance she would bear a daughter. It mattered not to her - she just wanted to be able to hold her child. To know it was alive, and that it was thriving. To have all the things that she hadn’t had after her last birth, after nine months of carrying it in her womb. She wasn’t sure she could say the same for her husband. She feared that he may blame her, if she has a girl, and that he may become a far more angrier man than he already was. What if he completely pushed her away?

The cry pierced the air with the urgency of the injured. Isabel felt her whole form weaken suddenly; it was as if she had been holding her breath for the entirety of her labour, and hadn’t even known it. “A very healthy baby girl, My Lady,” came the midwife’s voice.

”Give her to me,” Isabel ordered, although it came out as little more than a whisper. If she hadn’t been aware of George’s presence on the other side of the door ahead of her, she was now. She almost felt him hesitate upon hearing the sex of their child. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was holding her baby in her arms. Her mind was as stuck to the almost perfect round-headed child as her eyes were. Nothing else could possibly matter now.

~~~

The sound of his daughter crying filled his ears. His daughter. He was hovering right next to the door, still as a statue, yet letting the screams of his little girl fill his ears. Apart of him was relishing in it. The door flew open, with one of the Duchess’s ladies bundling bloodied sheets in her arms. He was met with the sight of Isabel, settled against the head of the bed. He did not even think his wife had noticed him.

He sauntered towards her. Them. His wife, and his daughter, who he could not yet clearly see. It felt somewhat like a walk of shame. Edward had a son, and his witch of a Queen was with child again, due to give birth any day. And Anne was possibly going to bear his younger brother a son, later this year. But, all he had was a daughter. He had kept vigil outside Isabel’s door all night, only for her to deliver a daughter.

It was only when he subconsciously forced himself to stop a small distance away from her bed, hands clasped nervously behind his back, that Isabel noticed him. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat briefly. She thought of reminding him that daughters were useful when it came to politics and alliances too, but the words didn’t come. Their gazes met, and they both seemed unable to say, or think, anything for an age, oblivious to the midwife who was perched patiently beside Isabel. Her ladies in waiting had curtsied and uttered to the Duke that the afterbirth hadn’t been delivered yet, before going silent realising that he wasn’t going to listen to whatever they had to say. They had crept away, but the midwives - aware that a job still needed to be done - had not moved an inch.

Isabel knew she didn’t want her husband to witness the placenta’s imminent arrival, but the only thing she managed to eventually say was, “Come, see her.” It had sounded rather more like an instruction than she had intended to address her husband with. But he didn’t say anything. He simply took a few slow footsteps towards her, and allowed himself to peer at their child, who was already calmer.

George deliberately shifted onto the very edge of the bed beside them, unable to resist having a better view of his daughter.

”I am sorry she is not a boy.” Isabel had only realised she was talking aloud a few nanoseconds late. Disapproval rung in her ears.

”We will have a son,” George replied. But it didn’t sound like a reprimand. It hardly even sounded bitter, to her surprise. His hand nervously twitched, as if he wanted to move it, but wasn’t sure what to do with it or where to place it. “Can I hold her?” he asked.

Isabel had no idea how to interpret his tone, and simply said that of course he could. “She’s yours too.” She found herself trying to giggle, but all she could do was breathe through her nose a little harder than usual. Feeling as if the world was now spinning in slow motion, she stretched out her arms to offer George the baby.

His eyes were glued to their daughter’s. He seemed unsure as he curled his arm under her and slowly pulled her closer to his chest.

”She’s beautiful,” Isabel offered. She was thinking aloud again. _Please, be quiet,_ she told herself, soundlessly.

A few minutes passed, before George said anything in response. “She is.” His voice was low and quiet. Tearing his eyes away from their child, he turned his head to face his wife. “Thank you,” he told her, not completely aware of why he was saying it. He let his arm move, and placed a hand over hers.

**Author's Note:**

> I believe George and Isabel probably cared for each other before their marriage, and were then shaken up by the loss of their first child and probably didn’t have much of a relationship for a few months. But I think they definitely cared for and understood one another, and that it was possibly when they became parents that their relationship blossomed!
> 
> I know some people might not ship them at all, but I wasn’t happy with one or two of their scenes (and the lack of them) in the show/book which hinted that they didn’t get on, because historically, they definitely did and most probably did love each other.
> 
> Here’s two good posts online about them:
> 
> https://hubpages.com/education/The-Marriage-of-George-Duke-of-Clarence-and-Isabel-Neville-A-Marriage-of-Politics
> 
> https://nevillfeast.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/marriage-and-the-nevills-isobel-nevill-and-george-duke-of-clarence/


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